“They’re crazy if they don’t hire him,” said Gentry, Brown’s assistant at Kansas when the Jayhawks won the 1988 NCAA championship. “I just think he’s a great coach. More than that, I think he’s a great teacher. With them going into the Big East, I don’t think they could have a better name.”

Popovich, whose first job with the Spurs was on Brown’s staff in 1988, said nobody should be surprised that Brown, even at age 71, would want another coaching gig.

“He’s a lifer, whether it’s the corner high school, an NBA team, it doesn’t matter,” Popovich said. “He wants to coach, not sit on the sidelines. It’s no big surprise, that’s for sure.

“He’s one of the great ones. That’s what he does, and that’s when he’s happiest.”

As for Popovich, there will be no temptation for him to return to the college game once his NBA career ends.